“I have always found nature to be remarkably consistent,” replied Frederica gravely.
The old gentleman detected Miss Vernon’s uneasiness, and after one or two attempts to encourage her to say something of her uncle’s conduct toward herself and Lady Vernon, he abandoned the subject and asked instead how far a spray of lemon water and clove oil would ward off beetles and ants.
When they parted in the hallway, however, Sir Reginald went immediately to his chamber and sat down to write a letter to his son.
Sir Reginald deCourcy to MR. deCourcy
Parklands Manor, Kent
My dear Reginald,
You know that prevarication is not in my nature, and I cannot begin a subject with all of the prelude and nicety that often serves only to give anxiety to the object. I must therefore lay my concerns before you without vacillation.
At the time of your sister’s marriage, there appeared no objection to Mr. Vernon other than some anxiety for the difference in age, as Catherine was three and twenty and Mr. Vernon a dozen or more years older. The disparity in itself was not greater than is often met with, and indeed in temperament they did appear to suit—yet for a gentleman who is a second son to come to the age of five and thirty with no profession and no residence beyond his set of rooms in town displayed a character wanting in proper ambition, one that looked entirely to a fortunate marriage or to the acquisition of the Vernon entail to provide for his comfort.
That your sister’s fortune was a significant inducement for him to marry her, I did not doubt; that efforts were made to shield me from the many rumors of his extravagance, I also cannot gainsay, but it was not until after their marriage that I heard anything of wretched companions and wasteful habits, and I continued to hope that the influence of a wife and family would prevail over temptation, and that my good brother’s giving Charles a profession would instill in him a sense of responsibility.
I knew very little of the relationship between Charles and his elder brother, and most of that came from Charles himself, as Catherine had no wish to know them—this may have been influenced by the jealousy a woman will feel when she is not a first choice (for I had heard that Charles had sought the hand of his sister-in-law). I had also heard (though I did not know how to credit it at the time) that Charles had enticed his brother into the speculation that had compelled Sir Frederick to sell Vernon Castle in order to reconcile his debts.
In forwarding an acquaintance with Miss Vernon, I have observed that any discussion of Vernon Castle or, more particularly, her uncle is steadily avoided and with an aversion for the latter subject that is very unusual from one who is, in all other respects, genteel, prudent, and self-possessed.
It would grieve me exceedingly to think that Charles may have used Lady Vernon and her daughter ill in any way, and yet it would grieve me more to know that such was the case and I had done nothing to repair it. Your Uncle deCourcy may be of some service to you in this—he was acquainted not only with Sir Frederick Vernon but with Lady Vernon’s father.
I will say in closing that I like Miss Vernon very much, but I am compelled to close my letter—there is no room to express the extent of my regard for her. She and Miss Manwaring talk of their visit ending inside a fortnight, and my brother writes to say that he means to travel to Parklands in order to bring them to town himself.
I am, etc.,
Reginald deCourcy
chapter fifty
REGINALD HAD ALWAYS BEEN A FAITHFUL CORRESPONDENT to both of his parents; letters from Parklands, however, came more frequently from his mother than from his father. Upon receiving word from her son, Lady deCourcy would immediately take up her pen, and having hurried her letter to the post, she would recall one or two more words of advice or caution and dispatch a second or even third reply; her husband, on the other hand, wrote only when a particular item of news, or a matter of grave urgency, warranted.
Reginald, therefore, opened his father’s letter with some apprehension and read it so eagerly that he scarcely took all of it in on the first perusal. Indeed, it was the closing paragraph that impressed him—there is no room to express the extent of my regard for her. He read it over many times before he returned his attention to the rest of the letter.
He was struck by his father’s words; at the time of Catherine’s marriage, Reginald had supposed that his father’s consent to the union had implied his approval. The apprehension expressed in his father’s letter recalled conversations and incidents from Reginald’s visit to Churchill that had not perturbed him individually but that now collected into a troublesome whole.
He immediately took up his pen to write to his father.
Mr. deCourcy to Sir Reginald deCourcy
Wimpole Street, London
My dear Sir,
I have this moment received your letter. I must confess that it compels me to look back upon incidents that (as they were intermingled with so many pleasant interludes) I can only view as ominous in light of your inquiry. These I will lay before you.
I had not been long in Sussex when I learned that my friendship with Lady Vernon had given rise to a rumor that I meant to make her an offer of marriage and also that her daughter was on the verge of an engagement to her cousin, Sir James Martin. Such rumors are not uncommon—the world has little patience for people who do not marry when they are free to do so—and yet they often spoke of poverty as Lady Vernon’s motive for wishing an advantageous union for herself and her daughter. That the survivors of Sir Frederick Vernon should be distressed for money did not seem likely, and yet more than once did Catherine suggest that Lady Vernon had come to Sussex on purpose to beg Charles for his financial assistance and that Miss Vernon was being urged upon Sir James because Sir Frederick had left her with nothing. Of Sir Frederick’s will, I know nothing, yet however improbable were Lady Vernon’s designs, sir, I gradually became convinced that her distress was very real, and though she is in possession of a very handsome house in town, that was settled on her by Lady Martin. I cannot find that anything of significance was left to her by her husband.
Several days after Miss Vernon’s arrival, Sir James Martin came to Churchill Manor. One evening at dinner he inquired after a portrait of Sir Frederick, which had hung in the gallery for many years beside those of Churchill’s previous masters, and it was revealed that Charles had ordered this portrait removed to one of the attics! Such an affront to his brother and his line! Lady Vernon must have felt the insult, and yet in all the time I was at Churchill, I never heard her utter a word of protest or reproach.
There are other incidents that, while not rising to the level of reprehensible conduct, do not speak well for the master of an estate. There seemed a callousness in the dismissal of many old family retainers; the property is poorly maintained; and the neighbors and tenants, to whom my brother, as master, owes some attention and hospitality, are neglected as well.